One of the most exciting opportunities that the Stevenson Center’s master’s in applied community and economic development offers is the paid second-year internship. Students are matched with one of the Stevenson Center’s nonprofit partners and engage in an 11-month-long immersive, applied service experience. This internship is at the heart of what the Stevenson Center does: fostering community involvement and developing the skills that make their students successful upon graduation. In addition to engaging in ongoing partnerships, the Stevenson Center program coordinator will actively attempt to recruit a new nonprofit when a student expresses interest in a new development area, as in the case of this year’s new partnership with the Illinois Farm Bureau (ILFB).
The ILFB, which represents three out of every four farmers in Illinois, is part of a larger group called the American Farm Bureau Federation. The Farm Bureau educates and advocates for farmers in public policy at the county, state, and national levels, as well as developing leadership potential among their members. Director of Strategic Operations Lyndsey Ramsey describes ILFB’s history, saying, “(The ILFB is) 107 years old (and has) always come together to try to solve problems for farmers.”
This year, the ILFB is hosting second-year Sociology Fellow Melody Rosche. “It’s cool to see how a nonprofit operates on this scale and the work that they’re able to accomplish for their membership,” Rosche said, “[It] seems like they’re going in a cool direction.” Rosche is referring to the department the ILFB has created within the last 10 years to create resources and programming for any farmer involved in the local food space, including such topics as specialty crops, urban agriculture, farmers doing direct marketing or creating products from their produce, and more. Ramsey adds, “(ILFB has been) thinking about holistic food systems across the state and how do we connect communities and help build resilient communities when it comes to food. We have Melody working on several things related to that.”
Rosche has difficulty summing up their internship duties because they have already done so many different things since they started in June. From volunteering to serve peach cider slushies at the state fair, to coordinating speakers for events and everything in between, Rosche has gained a wealth of experience. Another one of the major priorities of their internship is research, which Rosche speaks about with great relish: “(One day) I decided to do a deep dive into the county and municipal codes to see if they have any agrotourism definitions—did you know that there are 1300 municipalities in Illinois? I googled them all!”
Rosche’s passion for research has not gone unnoticed. “It’s been really nice and refreshing to have someone dive into the work with such enthusiasm,” explains Ramsey, “Food is very local so a lot of our work had been very site-specific. Rosche has been really helpful in doing some of the deeper research that we needed to do on some of these topics so we can be a statewide resource. They are really laying a foundation for the work that we’re going to do for years to come.”
Rosche’s work with the ILFB is also laying the foundation for their future career. Right now, they are looking forward to the opportunity to attend the National Agriculture Marketing Summit in Washington D.C. afforded to them by their internship: “I get to do some networking (with) agricultural professionals from around the states who are in food systems and ask them about their jobs and see where I want to go after that.”
The Stevenson Center also looks forward to seeing what Rosche and the ILFB have in store for the future! We are very thankful to be able to give these students the wonderful opportunities that ILFB and our other community partners offer, and in turn, connect them with hard-working, community-minded fellows such as Rosche’s. If you represent an organization interested in hosting one of our fellows, please check out our website!
